The 
University of Maryland 
What It Is Doing 



V ADDRESS BY 

DR. a: F. WOODS. PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY 

AT THE 

FINAL CONVOCATION OF THE STUDENT. BODY 

AT COLLEGE PARK. JUNE 9. 1922 



VOL. 19 JULY, 1922 NO. 3 

OFFICIAL PUBUCATION 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND 



ELmered at Oallege Park, Md.. as Second Class Matter under Act of Congress July 16, 1894 



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THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND— 
WHAT IT IS DOING 

Address by DR. A. F. WOODS 



THE fields of work included in the University of Maryland 
are organized to meet distinct educational needs in the 
State and nation, and in such manner as to articulate fully 
with the rest of the State controlled school system and 
duplicate as little as possible the v/ork of other collegiate institu- 
tions. Work in research departments and extension has been built 
up with special reference to the needs of the State. The University, 
therefore, organized with these aims in, view, is able to render 
efficient service where service is most needed and operate with 
practically no friction with other educational organizations. 

The standards of work have been carefully studied in all the 
colleges and departments and have been adjusted or are in the 
process of adjustment to meet the highest requirements. As a 
result, the University has membership in the Association of State 
Universities, the Association of Land-Grant Colleges, and other 
similar national groups representing special fields of education. 

The Arts and Science College is included in the list of approved 
colleges of the Middle States and Maryland. This College pro- 
vides the basic arts and science courses for the other colleges and 
schools of the University and offers opportunities to specialize in 
the sciences, cultural subjects, commerce and business administra- 
tion, and other fields. It was a representative of this College 
who this spring won the annual contest of the Oratorical Associa- 
tion of Maryland. 

The College of Agriculture has greatly strengthened its curricu- 
lum and provides courses equal to the best to be found in the 
agricultural colleges of the country. The college has grown rapidly 
in numbers as the high quality of its work has become recognized. 
It is practically the only college of agriculture in the country which 
has not suftered a decrease in student enrollment in the last two 
years. Something of how well its instruction compares with that 
given in' other institutions may be reaHzed by the fact that a team 
composed of three of its students last fall won first place, and a 
$500 bronze trophy, in judging all breeds of cattle at the Eastern 
States Exposition held at Springfield, Mass. In this contest the 



THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND 



Maryland team defeated Massachusetts Agricultural College, 
Connecticut Agricultural College, University of Maine, Rhode 
Island State College, Cornell University and Pennsylvania State 
College. 

The College of Engineering has greatly strengthened its curricu- 
lum and teaching facilities and staff. The organization of an Engi- 
neering Experiment Station in co-operation with the Maryland 
State Roads Commission and the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads 
has been a very great success. The work already accomplished has 
received the highest commendation of the State and National De- 
partments referred to. Just how generally has the work of the 
College of Engineering become known may be gained by the fact 
that the Dean of the College has been made President of the 
American Association of Engineers, a nation-wide organization 
numbering approximately 22,000 members. 

The Extension Courses in Commerce and Business Administra- 
tion in Baltim^ore were organized to meet the requirements of 
business interests in that city and daily is bringing the University 
into closer touch with the banking organizations, real estate bodies, 
and other commercial associations. The work was successful from 
the start and has proved popular beyond even our own expectations. 

The School of Medicine and the University Hospital have been 
partly reorganized and greatly increased in efficiency. The object 
has been to train general practitioners. In this the School has been 
highly successful. It has trained the great majority of the doctors 
practicing in Maryland outside of Baltimore, as well as a large 
number of the general practitioners and specialists in Baltimore. 
It is evident that the University must continue to perform this 
service to the State ; other schools are not preparing men for this 
work in sufficient numbers and even now many of the rural districts 
are not sufficiently supplied with medical service. 

The School for Nurses connected with the Hospital is in the 
same way training nurses to render much needed service to the 
people of the State. This School has been improved and through 
private donations from a large number of friends the first unit of 
a new nurses' home is nearing completion. It is a fireproof, seven- 
story structure, with roof garden, individual rooms with private 
baths between each suite, parlors, class rooms, laboratories, 
kitchenettes, elevator, private call bells, etc. The home is modern 
and comfortable in every respect. We v/ish here to express our 
sincere thanks to all who have contributed money and time to this 
project. 



WHAT IT IS DOING 



Many improvements in the Hospital have come from the efforts 
of the Ladies' AuxiHary, the Red Cross and others who have 
helped in the Hospital and Dispensary. More than 50,000 cases 
Vv^ill be handled in the Dispensary during the year. Over 1,000 
cases a month are handled in the Children's Clinic, with the co- 
operation of an efficient corps of women and the financial aid of 
friends. Nearly all service of this kind is free and it is impossible 
to estimate in dollars and cents the good the University is doing 
along these lines. 

During the year a committee of the Medical School faculty has 
organized and conducted a very helpful Medical Extension pro- 
gram. Special clinics have been held at the Medical School and 
Hospital, largely attended by rural physicians ; they have also been 
held in several parts of tlie State, at the request of groups of 
physicians. A Medical Library Information Service has also been 
conducted for the benefit of rural doctors, and in other helpful 
ways the Medical facilities of the University have been placed at 
the disposal of the country doctors. The satisfaction expressed by 
them establishes the value of this department of the IMedical 
School. 

The School of Dentistry is training dentists and conducting 
clinics and other helpful lines of work in much the same way as 
the Medical School. Its work has been very highly commended 
and is of great value to the State. Service it has rendered to 
school children of Baltimore, if continued, alone should repay the 
State for a substantial investment in order to enlarge the scope 
of its usefulness^ 

The School of Pharmacy is doing good service in training a 
very valuable group of public servants, filling positions of great 
responsibility. This School has greatly strengthened its curriculum 
with the co-operation of the College of Arts and Sciences. The 
Pharmaceutical industry and profession in Maryland represents a 
capital investment of approximately thirty-nine millions of dollars 
and, aside from the necessity for the public good to have men well 
trained in this field, the School offers the main channel to train 
men to take care of the actual requirements of the industry which 
is a big factor in the economic life of the State. 

The School of Law has been endeavoring to meet the special 
needs of the State. However, the time has come to strengthen 
the curriculum and a committee of the law faculty is at work on 
plans still further to develop and improve the School. Accurately 
framed laws and a wise interpretation of them are necessary to 



THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND 

the welfare of the Commonwealth and the University's law school 
is the only one in the State offering men opportunities to become 
skilled in the profession upon which we depend for these things. 

The College of Education has been developed as a part of the 
State system of teacher training schools and has for its special 
field the training of teachers of Agriculture, Home Economics and 
Trades and Industry under the terms of the Federal Smith-Hughes 
Act and the Morrill Acts. It also articulates with the normal 
schools and provides the additional training to complete a college 
course in education in two years. 

The College of Home Economics provides special courses to 
meet the needs of women in the home, in Institutional Manage- 
ment, and in various professional lines of special interest to v/omen. 

The Summer School for teachers places the facilities of the Uni- 
versity at the disposal of the teachers of the State for a six weeks 
summer session in any subjects they may elect. Teachers especially 
come to Summer School to raise the grades of their certificates. 

The Graduate School provides for work in advance of the 
bachelor's degree in the training of investigators and specialists in 
many important fields. Those intending to carry on advanced 
work in teaching and in the Experiment Stations should prepare 
themselves by taking advanced courses in this School. 

When the land-grant colleges and universities were established 
by the Federal Act of 1862, provision was made for the teaching of 
military science and tactics. For nearly three-quarters of a cen- 
tury this work has continued in the colleges, each year turning out 
a group of young men accustomed to obey and command, to organ- 
ize and to do team work — men who appreciate the importance of 
preparation and preparedness for important tasks. It was intended 
by Congress that these men should be ready to serve their country 
intelligently from a military standpoint in case of sudden need. 
^lany thought that it was a waste of time and that such a need 
viTOuld not arise. The great World War was the answer. The 
quick and efficient response to the call for men to help in every 
branch of military need was due, in large measure, to the work and 
influence of the men trained in these colleges. The colleges them- 
selves became the officer training centers and agencies that at 
once began the intensive training of officers and men for every 
branch of the service. 

The great efficiency of this work caused the War Department 
to recommend and Congress to provide for its enlargement into 
what is now known as the Reserve Officers Training Corps. In 

4 



WHAT IT IS DOING 



most of the colleges this has become a fully recognized branch 
of standard college work of just as high grade in every respect 
as the work at West Point. Those successfully completing it 
may become reserve officers of the U. S. Army or as far as 
needed may be taken into active army service. In any case the 
training fits them in a general way as does a course in Engineering 
or Arts and Science or Agriculture for more efficient citizenship. 
This education does not develop a militaristic spirit, but on the 
contrary it reduces the necessity for a very large standing army 
by having available in emergency men who can meet the great 
need for officers. Eleven of our graduates this spring have been 
given reserve commissions in the U. S. Army and nearly every 
year we are sending men into the regular army. Also, the War 
Department has designated us as a distinguished institution. 

The Department of Physical Education and Recreation has as 
its problem the promotion of the health and vigor of the body by 
skillfully directed exercises and physical competition. The work, 
however, is valuable also from the standpoint of developing a 
spirit of honest competition and true sportsmanship, the ability 
to work together and to win or lose like gentlemen. Altogether, 
it offers one of our most valuable means of education. Greater 
opportunities will be offered next year through the construction 
this summer of a big gymnasium and a stadium for intercollegiate 
athletics. And in passing, I should note here, not without a feel- 
ing of pride, the success of our athletic teams in competition with 
the largest universities and our pleasant relationships with all 
the big state universities and colleges of the South and with Yale, 
Princeton, Pennsylvania and many others in the North. We are 
all glad, too, that our friendly rivalry with Plopkins has been 
resumed. 

The campus of every state institution should be the State itself 
and the Agricultural and Home Economics Extension and Gen- 
eral University Extension are the mediums through which we 
should carry information and education to those who cannot 
come here to get it. For years the state colleges conducted insti- 
tutes and special lecture courses designed to help farmers apply 
new information, but this v/ork entered a new and very much 
more important phase when Congress made special provision for 
it by pa'ssing the Smith-Lever Act. Under the provisions of this 
Act the land-grant colleges came into close contact with the farm 
and the farm home through extension teachers and demonstrators, 
known as County Agents and Home Demonstration Agents. 



THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND 

These Agents are not supposed to "know it all," but rather to 
know where to get information that will help the farmer or his 
family and to see that the necessary help is forthcoming. vWe 
have a man and a woman Agent in each county; two of each in 
some counties. These are aided by the specialists of the Uni- 
versity and the U. S. Department of Agriculture. These Agents 
are in constant touch with the farm homes. 

The Extension Service co-operates with the schools in many 
ways, especially in the organization and instruction of boys' and 
girls' clubs. Through these the boys and girls become interested 
in agriculture and rural life and learn how to make the most 
out of them, both in profit and enjoyment. During the current 
scholastic year three boys representing the Boys Agricultural 
Clubs of Maryland, organized and trained by the Extension 
Service, in competition with similar teams from all parts of the 
United States, won first place in judging live stock at the South 
Eastern Fair at Atlanta, Georgia. This victory entitled the 
Maryland team to a free trip to Europe. The University also 
conducts, as far as available funds will permit, a Department of 
General Extension, which aims to bring the other departments of 
the University into closer touch with the people of the State. 

The Agricultural Experiment Station, established by Act of 
Congress in 1887, and accepted by the Legislature of Maryland 
assigned to the Maryland Agricultural College, has conducted in- 
vestigations on "the important problems which have confronted 
Maryland farmers and has obtained results which have helped 
the farmers who have taken advantage of the knowledge gained, 
to procure greater profit from their labors and which have 
greatly advanced the agriculture of the State." 

The research work of the Station forms the basis of agricul- 
tural teaching and practice of the University and Extension Serv- 
ice. The Station has been the leader in soil study and mapping 
with the co-operation of the Maryland Geological and Economic 
Survey, now a part of the University. This work has revealed 
great soil resources and possibilities of development by proper 
use hardly yet dreamed of by our people. These resources should 
be developed. The last Legislative Assembly turned over to the 
University the State Forestry Service. Many thousands of acres 
of at present waste land may be made highly profitable by growth 
of forests. The proper handling of those lands is also the key 
to the control of floods and land erosion, the maintenance of proper 
stream flow, which in turn is the basis of preserving the adapt- 



WHAT IT IS DOING 



ability of our water areas to the wild life that makes them so 
valuable. All these branches of the University aim to co-operate 
with other State agencies in developing and maintaining these 
great natural resources as sources of pleasure and profit to our 
people. 

The work of the Experiment Station in the testing and im- 
provement of crops adapted to soils and climate and market needs 
has given results of great value. The increase in annual returns 
to the farmer as a result of work already accomplished is esti- 
mated to be at least fourteen million dollars a year. It is impos- 
sible here even to mention the important projects now under in- 
vestigation. Those interested should read the biennial report of 
the University and especially the annual reports of the Experi- 
ment Station, the Extension Service, the State Board of Forestry, 
and the State Geological and Economic Survey. 

The State Board of Agriculture is another branch of State 
Service under the Board of Regents and closely associated with 
the University. The powers granted to the Board by act of the 
Legislature are very broad and give it power to do everything 
necessary for the protection and promotion of agriculture, in- 
cluding the encouragement of immigration. Most of this work 
is conducted through close co-operative arrangements with the 
various branches of the University, Experiment Station and Ex- 
tension Service. For example, the Fertilizer and Feed Control 
Work is conducted by the Department of Chemistry; the Seed 
Control and Biological Products Laboratories by the Experiment 
Station; the Live Stock Sanitary Control by the Department of 
Animal Pathology of the University, co-operating with the Live 
Stock Sanitary Service; and Agricultural Organization and Mar- 
kets through the Extension Service, as is also Nursery and Bee 
Inspection. This co-operative relation secures the best service at 
the least cost and if properly organized so that one branch does 
not interfere with the other is very helpful to each. 

I have given this bird's-eye view of the University and the 
lines of work in which it directly serves the people of the State 
to make clear to you the fundamental importance of the Univer- 
sity to the welfare of the State. In our democracy we well know 
that education is essential to successful government and that tlie 
education this University offers to young men and women is 
along lines which will enable them to render public service and 
which teaches them that public service should be the highest aim 
of the college graduate. But it is also pleasing for us to note 



THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND 



that the State University not only is offering successfully this 
type of education, but through its several agencies, such as have 
been only too briefly mentioned, is returning to the State dollar 
for dollar what the State is investing in it. 

I cannot close without expressing to you my appreciation of 
your splendid conduct during the year and of your co-operation 
in handling so successfully the extra-curricular activities. Your 
publications, your athletics, your assemblies, your fraternities and 
sororities, your clubs, your literary societies, and other purely 
student activities have been carried on with care for the ideals of 
the University and in an endeavor to reach higher standards than 
in previous years. You have v/orked with members of the faculty 
to make this the most successful year in the whole hundred and 
fifteen years of the University's existence and I congratulate you. 

And all of us should not fail to remember that we are a part 
of the State Government and that we owe appreciation to other 
State officials for aid they have rendered. Governor Ritchie, 
through recommendations in his budget and in other ways, and 
other State officials have co-operated in enabling the University 
to render more efficient and direct service to you as students and 
to the people we serve in other lines. 

The natural resources of Maryland are its people; its lands 
with their agricultural, horticultural, forestry and industrial pos- 
sibilities undeveloped; its waters with power and food producing 
possibilities largely undeveloped; its nearness to great . markets ; 
its climate unexcelled; and its beautiful and inspiring landscapes. 
All the great benefits to be derived from developing these things 
may be ours if we have the sound business sense to go about it in 
the right way. Education for every kind of service is the key. 
It is the best gift the people of the State can bestow on their chil- 
dren. We are headed in the right way, but the State must invest 
much more in our University before we shall be doing for the 
children of Maryland v/hat most of the States are doing for their 
young men and v/omen. However, with the spirit now developing 
behind the movement for a greater and more efficient University 
I feel sure that it will not be long before Maryland stands where 
she should — in front. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

028 347 347 8 | 

m 



"I have given this bird's-eye 
view of the University and the lines 
of work in which it directly serves 
the people of the State to make clear 
to you the fundamental importance 
of the University to the welfare of 
the State."— President Woods. 



